Tunneling and Suture of Thoracic Epidural Catheters Decrease the Incidence of Catheter Dislodgement

Table 1

General data of study groups (tunneled versus taped).

	Tunneled	Taped
Age [years]	57	58	𝑃=0.34
Gender [male : female]	35 : 25	35 : 26	𝑃=0.61
Duration of catheterization [hours]	109 (±46)	97 (±37)	<𝑃=0.06
Access of puncture (𝑛=)			𝑃=0.2
Midline	38	44
Paramedian	22	17
Level of puncture (𝑛=)			𝑃=0.2
High thoracic (T3/4--T6/7)	7	10
Mid thoracic (T7/8--T8/9)	40	41
Low thoracic (T9/10--T11/12)	13	10
Type of surgery (𝑛=)			𝑃=0.31
Thoracic	7	9
Abdominal	44	37
Urological	8	15
Combined	1	0

General data revealed no intergroup difference. Student’s 𝑡-test, Fisher’s exact test, and Mann-Whitney 𝑈 test were used for statistical analysis.